Willard Bay campground open months after oil spill

Boaters use the Willard Bay North Campground and Marina on Saturday, months after a diesel fuel leak from a pipeline left the area idled.

Alex Cabrero

Summary

The Utah Division of Parks and Recreation flung open the gates at the Willard Bay North Campground and Marina, months after a diesel fuel leak from a pipeline left the area idled. A risk assessment says the area is safe for the public to return.

“We are absolutely thrilled. I just breathed a sigh of relief because we are glad to be able to open it up.”

Fred Hayes, director of the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation

WILLARD BAY — The gates of Willard Bay's North Campground and Marina were happily flung open Friday afternoon, months after that half of the state park was shut down due to a diesel fuel spill.

"Are you ready for the good news," said Fred Hayes, director of the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation. "They're unlocking the gates right now."

That was just a few minutes before 4 p.m. Friday, and within a couple of hours after Hayes received a risk assessment from the Utah Division of Water Quality.

"We are absolutely thrilled," Hayes said. "I just breathed a sigh of relief because we are glad to be able to open it up."

The risk assessment is a three-page technical memo that says the area is basically safe, but people should stay out of what remains fenced off to the public. That drainage area, home to a family of beavers impacted by the spill, does not intrude on the camping spots, Hayes added.

"Anything that was that generally open to the public before is open to them now."

John Whitehead, deputy director of the water quality division, said the assessment looked at a "trespasser scenario" and the question of what would happen if someone scaled the fence and ventured into the contaminated area.

"The question is what happens if someone gets in that contaminated area," Whitehead said. "They should definitely keep the fence in place and keep people out," but the area does not pose severe risks, he said.

The closure since the March 18 failure of Chevron pipeline has been a hardship on the park, which is one of the state's busiest, hosting close to 350,000 visitors last year.

A preliminary investigation determined a seam along the 8-inch pipeline split, sending 600 barrels of diesel fuel into park.

Whitehead said the cleanup is essentially done, with only traces that remain. The agency issued a notice of violation to Chevron and a settlement on what the financial penalties may be won't be reached until late this summer.

The pipeline is 760 miles long, stretching from Salt Lake City north into Spokane, Wash.

In May, Tesoro Logistics announced it had purchased the pipeline for $355 million, with the requirement that Chevron maintain responsiblity for any cleanup at the Willard site for two years.

Chevron has also been responsible for a pair of oil spills that despoiled Red Butte Creek in 2010.

In the aftermath, Chevron was fined by the federal government and paid out $1 million to Salt Lake City for lost use of the stream. The company paid another $500,000 to the state in penalties, paid $3 million in mitigation projects and reimbursed residents and others affected with $929,000 in payments.

Amy Joi O'Donoghue is the environmental reporter the Deseret News, specializing in coverage of issues that affect land, air, water and energy development. She has worked here since 1998 and has been an assistant city more ..